Three men stripped and beaten for having gay sex in Nigeria

Reports have just emerged from a remote part of Nigeria, that three men have been brutally assaulted and humiliated after allegedly being caught having gay sex.

According to eyewitness reports, the three men from Ekwe a village close to Umuka in Njaba LGA of Imo state, were stripped naked, tied in ropes and paraded publicly by their community.

They were then brutally beaten and whisked to the elder of the village, on Monday (14 January) according to the daily The Premium Times.

Other reports state that, in fact, four men were assaulted and a close examination of the photo seems to confirm a forth man to the left of the three pictured.

The Nigeria HIV Info, a group dedicated to the protection of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, has condemned the mob beating of the three men.

The group also appealed to Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, to intervene to save the lives of the men.

In a statement by Steve Aborisade, its coordinator, the group said it has ‘reliably confirmed and authenticated the incident and of the identity of one of the men’.

‘A source reliably confirmed that the men were yet to be released from the location where they are being held in Umuka, Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State’.

‘As it is, only the perpetrators and the community can tell the whole world what has become of these men who were seriously beaten up, stripped naked and paraded around the community bounded together like animals on allegation that they were caught having sex together’.

‘While acknowledging that several Nigerians find the practice of homosexuality strange and unnatural, we also realize that it does not confer a license to trample on the rights of people who engages in it, with the sort of inhuman treatment that was meted out to these them.

‘We suggest that our parliamentarians should devote equal energy at fishing out and punishing our treasury thieves who are doing more harm to the continued survival of our nation instead of dissipating energy on an issue that borders on private morality.

‘We enjoin other rights group to show solidarity and ensure that the rights of sexual minorities are protected like other marginalised groups in the country’.

Last week two pastors were caught having gay sex in a hotel room in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.

The two are currently facing court proceedings, if found guilty they may face up to 14 years imprisonment.

Homosexuality is illegal in the federal system of Nigeria and is punished in different states in varying degrees of severity.

Southern states punishes same-sex acts with up to 14 years imprisonment.

While northern states punish same-sex acts with a minimum of 14 years imprisonment as well as a fine, and in twelve of the northern states punishments include flogging and death by stoning.

Last week, the president of the Nigerian senate, David Mark, has insisted that a planned bill prohibiting same sex marriage and jailing all gay people and anyone who fails to report a homosexual to the authorities, will become law despite international pressure.